Wednesday was a bit of a different day for users of the Wolfe Island ferry. The vessel was out of service for a handful of hours as the Ministry of Transportation changed out one of the main engines of the ferry as part of regular maintenance.
MTO shore captain Bob Woodman says the engine change was necessary.
“The manufacturer recommends changing the engine, a total rebuild, at 30,000 hours, so with us running 20 and a half hours a day, that’s about four years for an engine to get that amount of hours on it.”
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The vessel has four main engines — Caterpillar V-12’s with 550 horsepower — with a spare, each weighing about two and a half tons.
Even in the midst of the engine change-over, Woodman says should an emergency have happened on the island during that time, the vessel was ready to go.
“We’re able to shut down what we’re doing and go to the island for an ambulance call should one arise.”
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Woodman says the ferry doesn’t have a lot of downtime for regular maintenance so it needed to be pulled out of service for the engine change. He says most minor maintenance can be done when the vessel is being used, but something like pulling an engine requires the ferry to be shut down.